Flavor-Changing Meta Cookie: Willy Wonka Gets Real

Stealing a page right out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, this strange looking headgear turns a single cookie into one of seven different flavors.

Scientist Tajuki Narumi and a team from the University of Tokyo created this unusual contraption called the “Meta Cookie“. The device combines augmented reality software with a camera and head-mounted display to project a simulated image of the cookie of your choice onto a host cookie (for texture). Then, air pumps blow the aroma of a specified cookie directly into your nostrils, convincing your brain that you’re eating a totally different cookie. The video clip below doesn’t really do the technology justice, but you get the point, right?

Want a different flavor? Just do like you do with your web browser and clear your cookies.